Priest pleads not guilty to Va. charges

Ex-Knox minister had admitted molesting same accuser in N.C.

Rev. William Casey was a pastor at Notre Dame Catholic Church in Greeneville, Tenn. Father Casey was suspended today after he admitted to abusing a 10-year-old boy more than 25 years ago.

The alleged victim of a former Knoxville priest who was arraigned Monday on felony molestation charges in Virginia accused the clergyman of cowardice for declining to plead guilty at his first court appearance.

Father William "Bill" Casey, 76, is accused of forcible sodomy and indecent liberties with a minor for allegedly molesting Warren Tucker in 1978 at Natural Tunnel State Park. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on both counts and has a Jan. 26 trial date, according to the Scott County, Va., Commonwealth Attorney's Office.

William Casey pleaded not guilty at arraignment and was freed on a $5,000 bond pending trial, according to Commonwealth Attorney Marcus McClung. Casey can't have contact with the victim or any minors and will be subject to electronic monitoring as conditions of his bond.

Casey previously has admitted and been convicted of molesting Tucker in North Carolina. He recently received 24 months' probation in the North Carolina case, and Tucker on Monday blasted him for being inconsistent in his willingness to accept responsibility for his crimes.

"It is disappointing that Mr. Casey is more than willing to confess and plead guilty when he believes he faces no prison time," Tucker said in a statement released by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. "But when facing prison time he appears to have developed a case of amnesia."

Casey couldn't be reached for comment.

Tucker claims Casey molested him more than 50 times during the late 1970s and early 1980s, beginning in 1975 when he was a fifth-grader at St. Dominic's church in Kingsport.

Deacon Sean Smith of the Knoxville Diocese said Monday that Bishop Richard Stika is "cooperating with and observing fully" the judicial process. Smith, who characterized Tucker as "a wonderful man who is full of courage," said the abuse was "an abominable act."

Stika stripped Casey of all his priestly functions immediately after Casey admitted there was "credibility" to the allegations, Smith said, and the bishop is "cooperating with and fully observing" the judicial process. Once the cases are decided, Stika "will address the future of Bill Casey," he said.

Whatever the outcome of the criminal charges, Casey will never be brought back into the clerical fold, Smith said. "One strike and you're out, you're done," he said.